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Why do so many Heisman trophy winners fail in the NFL?
doubledragon
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in Sports Talk
I was reading an article yesterday about busts in the NFL and it's shocking how many Heisman trophy winners have failed in the NFL, why is this?
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Because College is easier. You got maybe 1 or several at best players who will make the NFL as opposed to all NFL caliber players
^^^^ there are 127 division 1 football teams i believe. then you take those rosters and draft the very best for the 32 NFL teams. NFL is the very best of the best.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
The NFL is certainly a different animal than college football, I was looking at the list of Heisman winners that didn't make it in the pros and it's a pretty big list, let's just look at some of the Heisman busts, I've got nothing else to do, why not?
Ty Detmer of BYU, 1990 winner.
Gino Torretta of Miami, won it in 1992.
Chris Weinke FSU, 2000 winner. I remember him well, he was a Carolina Panther.
And then there's Ricky Williams of Texas University, the 1998 winner. We all know what happened with him, he chose weed over football, I mean he is obsessed with smoking weed, look how he autographs helmets with the inscription "Smoke weed everyday."
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Another Heisman bust was Danny Wuerffel of Florida, the 1996 winner.
Archie Griffin, OSU, still the only back to back Heisman winner, he won it in 1975 and 1975.
Ron Dayne of Wisconsin University won it in 1999, I remember him because he was a beast.
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Weurffel aka AWFUL
Agreed!
Next bust up, Andre Ware of Houston University, 1989 winner.
Mike Rozier, Nebraska, 1983 winner.
Hey Ricky, how's it going, thanks for stopping by!
Troy Smith, Ohio State, 2006 winner. I remember him with the Ravens.
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Up next, Tim Tebow, Florida University, 2007 winner. He is one of the greatest college players in history, but he just couldn't keep up with the level of play it takes to make it in the NFL.
Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, 2008 winner. He was plagued by constant injury in the NFL, and never could stay healthy.
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He should be considered the biggest train robber in NFL history, this fraud made over 100 million in his joke of a career!
Filthy rich and didn't do squat!
Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M, 2012 winner. He was one of the most electrifying college players of all time, he could beat you with his arm and his legs. His problem was that he partied too much and couldn't get his head screwed on straight, a real shame and a waste of talent.
This photo circulated back in 2012 of Johnny Manziel with his Heisman trophy and the trophy is holding a blunt. He was a hard partier.
Matt Leinart, USC, 2004 winner. I remember him being a big bust with the Arizona Cardinals.
Several comments-
The Heisman Trophy is really not much different than the Academy Awards- Folks in this country are so caught up in the B S associated with awards for the moment without any consideration that the thought of the most deserving is just WRONG and will not withstand the test of time. Think about Heisman winners and best actors/actresses and best pictures... it rarely withstands the test of time. The Heisman winners are the flavor of the moment and even that is often a stretch... it has more to do with the school, the Heisman campaign instead of how the athlete influenced the outcome for the season for the team. The Heisman Trophy has been a comedy of errors that follows the Academy Awards as most folks seem to be caught up in the moment instead of calling it out for what it is...
The argument has already been made here as to to shortfall in connection with the Heisman... I don't feel the need to draw the comparison to the Academy Awards mainly because one can look back at what was nominated and what wasn't and what won and draw your only conclusions. And in the process of your review, don't loose site of Citizen Kane; Humphrey Bogart's performance in Casablanca and Billy Wilder's classic Sunset Boulevard and that is just to get thoughts moving... my apologies because there are so much more that can and should be included here. And maybe... just maybe it will as the thread progresses
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A quick photo I forgot to post of Johnny Manziel's Heisman trophy wearing a retirement watch.
Eric Crouch, Nebraska, 2001 winner. He was another great college athlete that could do it all, throw, run, and even catch on occasion.
Maybe you can add a picture of Nile Kinnick's Heisman too
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Yes, of course.
Nile Kinnick, is the only Iowa Hawkeye to ever win the Heisman trophy, he won it in 1939. Tragically, Nile Kinnick died in 1943 at the age of 24 during a training flight while serving as a United States Navy aviator during World War 2. I would not consider him a bust, but a hero who died serving his country.
Robert Griffin III, Baylor University, 2011 winner. He looked like a promising player, but he blew his knee out with Washington and faded away after that.
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It proves a point that college QB’s are system QB’s. Of course there are exceptions. The bigger the college name the better the players are around them. RB’s can be lumped into that same theory.
Alabama a power house has 2 QB’s in the HOF, the last being Kenny Stabler. Oklahoma zero.
Some of best NFL QB’s came from schools not considered power houses. The NFL draft is a crap shoot for QB’s.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
@doubledragon
Thanks for searching and finding the images that you posted. You are correct in that Nile Kinnick is Iowa's sole Heisman winner- Chuck Long nearly won- I think he was the closest second there ever was in the Heisman balloting.
Back to Kinnick... he played both offense and defense and was the key figure in Iowa's 1939 season that simply did not have a full roster of players. I believe he is the only Heisman winner that played 60 minutes in at least 5-6 games during the 1939 season. One could also suggest/argue that he gave the best Heisman speech ever. His accidental death was a real tragedy during the early stages of WWII.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Several comments
and you should probably delete that ridiculous post.
He was an amazing athlete and an amazing person, I actually did not know he played defense as well as offense. He is a legend, and his death was truly a heartbreaking tragedy.
No Keets... not going to delete my post no matter how ridiculous and or funny you think it might be...
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I knew this would happen, now I'm starting to get the itch to collect cards of Heisman trophy winners, and once I get the itch, it must be scratched!
I was just on ebay a few moments ago and I was shocked to learn that people are still collecting cards of Heisman trophy winners from decades ago. Take this 1992 Classic Ty Detmer for instance, one sold, one still available, but hurry because they're selling like hotcakes!
There is the 1955 All American Topps set that features a few Heisman winners. I believe the set is under or about 100 cards and seems popular among the older crowd. I made a mistake by passing on some of the better cards from this set... oh well...
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Yes, I am very familiar with that set, it has the old college logos I do believe, awesome looking set and very popular.
Not surprised...and you are right in that there are College Logos on them. I am trying to remember which school is the most represented... seems it might be ND followed by Michigan or Stanford
I have seen the 4 Horsemen card, Jim Thorpe, Red Grange and Knute Rockne... should have bought them when I that opportunity
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Yeah, they are awesome looking cards, the more popular stars like Thorpe and Grange can fetch some pretty high prices, I might look into them if the prices cool down, but I could be waiting a while.
I put together a graded set about 10 years ago. Some tough cards in high grade. Probably worth 10x what I sold it for in 2011
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Because, like so many others, the Heisman voters think QBs from great teams must themselves be great. Since that is a false premise, it leads to illogical conclusions. If the voters spent more time and effort identifying the actual best player - who could play ANY position on the field on offense OR defense - there would undoubtedly be fewer busts.
NFL teams are a whole lot smarter than Heisman voters. Ty Detmer, for example, was drafted in the 9th round and Gino Torretta in the 7th.
What about defensive players that won the Heisman. Any stats on that? They probably faired much better than QB’s.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
From the Nile Kinnick Scholarship page...
Nile Kinnick, was an all-American football player, a scholar, and a World War II hero. Kinnick was born July 9, 1918, in Adel, IA and went on to play football for the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 1937-39 seasons and to become a brother in Phi Kappa Psi.
His name has become legendary at the University of Iowa. As Iowa’s only Heisman Trophy winner, Kinnick remains Iowa’s greatest ever. In a time where players were expected to play both offense and defense, Kinnick excelled. His senior year (1939), Nile played 402 out of a possible 420 minutes and was involved in 107 of Iowa’s 130 points. He played quarterback, he kicked field goals, he returned kicks, he played defense…he was everywhere. His 8 interceptions that season and 18 in his career, still stand as records at Iowa.
After a stellar collegiate career, Nile turned down a career in professional football. He had graduated as a member of the national honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, and enrolled in law school in the fall of 1940. But Nile’s academic pursuits were cut short in December of 1941 when he was called to duty, just days before Pearl Harbor was bombed.
Seems his defensive accomplishments are still part of the Iowa record books...
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Seems Woodson is the sole defensive winner.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.